276 research outputs found
Spaceflight tracking and data network operational reliability computer output for MTBF and availability. Appendix V to CSC-1-395
Tables of data are provided to show the availability of Skylab data to selected ground stations during the phases of Skylab preflight, Skylab unmanned condition, and Skylab manned condition. The mean time between failure (MTBF) of the same Skylab functions is tabulated for the selected ground stations. All reliability data are based on a 90 percent confidence interval
Spaceflight tracking and data network operational reliability assessment for Skylab
Data on the spaceflight communications equipment status during the Skylab mission were subjected to an operational reliability assessment. Reliability models were revised to reflect pertinent equipment changes accomplished prior to the beginning of the Skylab missions. Appropriate adjustments were made to fit the data to the models. The availabilities are based on the failure events resulting in the stations inability to support a function of functions and the MTBF's are based on all events including 'can support' and 'cannot support'. Data were received from eleven land-based stations and one ship
Clinical, biochemical and genetic spectrum of 70 patients with ACAD9 deficiency: Is riboflavin supplementation effective?
Background: Mitochondrial acyl-CoA dehydrogenase family member 9 (ACAD9) is essential for the assembly of mitochondrial respiratory chain complex I. Disease causing biallelic variants in ACAD9 have been reported in individuals presenting with lactic acidosis and cardiomyopathy. Results: We describe the genetic, clinical and biochemical findings in a cohort of 70 patients, of whom 29 previously unpublished. We found 34 known and 18 previously unreported variants in ACAD9. No patients harbored biallelic loss of function mutations, indicating that this combination is unlikely to be compatible with life. Causal pathogenic variants were distributed throughout the entire gene, and there was no obvious genotype-phenotype correlation. Most of the patients presented in the first year of life. For this subgroup the survival was poor (50% not surviving the first 2 years) comparing to patients with a later presentation (more than 90% surviving 10 years). The most common clinical findings were cardiomyopathy (85%), muscular weakness (75%) and exercise intolerance (72%). Interestingly, severe intellectual deficits were only reported in one patient and
The Power Board of the KM3NeT Digital Optical Module: design, upgrade, and production
The KM3NeT Collaboration is building an underwater neutrino observatory at
the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea consisting of two neutrino telescopes, both
composed of a three-dimensional array of light detectors, known as digital
optical modules. Each digital optical module contains a set of 31 three inch
photomultiplier tubes distributed over the surface of a 0.44 m diameter
pressure-resistant glass sphere. The module includes also calibration
instruments and electronics for power, readout and data acquisition. The power
board was developed to supply power to all the elements of the digital optical
module. The design of the power board began in 2013, and several prototypes
were produced and tested. After an exhaustive validation process in various
laboratories within the KM3NeT Collaboration, a mass production batch began,
resulting in the construction of over 1200 power boards so far. These boards
were integrated in the digital optical modules that have already been produced
and deployed, 828 until October 2023. In 2017, an upgrade of the power board,
to increase reliability and efficiency, was initiated. After the validation of
a pre-production series, a production batch of 800 upgraded boards is currently
underway. This paper describes the design, architecture, upgrade, validation,
and production of the power board, including the reliability studies and tests
conducted to ensure the safe operation at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea
throughout the observatory's lifespa
Mitochondrial ATP synthase: architecture, function and pathology
Human mitochondrial (mt) ATP synthase, or complex V consists of two functional domains: F1, situated in the mitochondrial matrix, and Fo, located in the inner mitochondrial membrane. Complex V uses the energy created by the proton electrochemical gradient to phosphorylate ADP to ATP. This review covers the architecture, function and assembly of complex V. The role of complex V di-and oligomerization and its relation with mitochondrial morphology is discussed. Finally, pathology related to complex V deficiency and current therapeutic strategies are highlighted. Despite the huge progress in this research field over the past decades, questions remain to be answered regarding the structure of subunits, the function of the rotary nanomotor at a molecular level, and the human complex V assembly process. The elucidation of more nuclear genetic defects will guide physio(patho)logical studies, paving the way for future therapeutic interventions
Embedded Software of the KM3NeT Central Logic Board
The KM3NeT Collaboration is building and operating two deep sea neutrino
telescopes at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. The telescopes consist of
latices of photomultiplier tubes housed in pressure-resistant glass spheres,
called digital optical modules and arranged in vertical detection units. The
two main scientific goals are the determination of the neutrino mass ordering
and the discovery and observation of high-energy neutrino sources in the
Universe. Neutrinos are detected via the Cherenkov light, which is induced by
charged particles originated in neutrino interactions. The photomultiplier
tubes convert the Cherenkov light into electrical signals that are acquired and
timestamped by the acquisition electronics. Each optical module houses the
acquisition electronics for collecting and timestamping the photomultiplier
signals with one nanosecond accuracy. Once finished, the two telescopes will
have installed more than six thousand optical acquisition nodes, completing one
of the more complex networks in the world in terms of operation and
synchronization. The embedded software running in the acquisition nodes has
been designed to provide a framework that will operate with different hardware
versions and functionalities. The hardware will not be accessible once in
operation, which complicates the embedded software architecture. The embedded
software provides a set of tools to facilitate remote manageability of the
deployed hardware, including safe reconfiguration of the firmware. This paper
presents the architecture and the techniques, methods and implementation of the
embedded software running in the acquisition nodes of the KM3NeT neutrino
telescopes
Letter of interest for a neutrino beam from Protvino to KM3NeT/ORCA
The Protvino accelerator facility located in the Moscow region, Russia, is in a good position to offer a rich experimental research program in the field of neutrino physics. Of particular interest is the possibility to direct a neutrino beam from Protvino towards the KM3NeT/ORCA detector, which is currently under construction in the Mediterranean Sea 40 km offshore Toulon, France. This proposal is known as P2O. Thanks to its baseline of 2595 km, this experiment would yield an unparalleled sensitivity to matter effects in the Earth, allowing for the determination of the neutrino mass ordering with a high level of certainty after only a few years of running at a modest beam intensity of ≈ 90 kW. With a prolonged exposure (≈1500 kWyear), a 2σ sensitivity to the leptonic CP-violating Dirac phase can be achieved. A second stage of the experiment, comprising a further intensity upgrade of the accelerator complex and a densified version of the ORCA detector (Super-ORCA), would allow for up to a 6σ sensitivity to CP violation and a 10º−17º resolution on the CP phase after 10 years of running with a 450 kW beam, competitive with other planned experiments. The initial composition and energy spectrum of the neutrino beam would need to be monitored by a near detector, to be constructed several hundred meters downstream from the proton beam target. The same neutrino beam and near detector set-up would also allow for neutrino-nucleus cross section measurements to be performed. A short-baseline sterile neutrino search experiment would also be possible
Prospects for combined analyses of hadronic emission from -ray sources in the Milky Way with CTA and KM3NeT
The Cherenkov Telescope Array and the KM3NeT neutrino telescopes are major
upcoming facilities in the fields of -ray and neutrino astronomy,
respectively. Possible simultaneous production of rays and neutrinos
in astrophysical accelerators of cosmic-ray nuclei motivates a combination of
their data. We assess the potential of a combined analysis of CTA and KM3NeT
data to determine the contribution of hadronic emission processes in known
Galactic -ray emitters, comparing this result to the cases of two
separate analyses. In doing so, we demonstrate the capability of Gammapy, an
open-source software package for the analysis of -ray data, to also
process data from neutrino telescopes. For a selection of prototypical
-ray sources within our Galaxy, we obtain models for primary proton and
electron spectra in the hadronic and leptonic emission scenario, respectively,
by fitting published -ray spectra. Using these models and instrument
response functions for both detectors, we employ the Gammapy package to
generate pseudo data sets, where we assume 200 hours of CTA observations and 10
years of KM3NeT detector operation. We then apply a three-dimensional binned
likelihood analysis to these data sets, separately for each instrument and
jointly for both. We find that the largest benefit of the combined analysis
lies in the possibility of a consistent modelling of the -ray and
neutrino emission. Assuming a purely leptonic scenario as input, we obtain, for
the most favourable source, an average expected 68% credible interval that
constrains the contribution of hadronic processes to the observed -ray
emission to below 15%.Comment: 18 pages, 15 figures. Submitted to journa
Searches for neutrinos in the direction of radio-bright blazars with the ANTARES telescope
Active galaxies, especially blazars, are among the most promising neutrino
source candidates. To date, ANTARES searches for these objects considered
GeV-TeV -ray bright blazars. Here, a statistically complete
radio-bright blazar sample is used as the target for searches of origins of
neutrinos collected by the ANTARES neutrino telescope over 13 years of
operation. The hypothesis of a neutrino-blazar directional correlation is
tested by pair counting and by a complementary likelihood-based approach. The
resulting post-trial -value is ( in the two-sided
convention), possibly indicating a correlation. Additionally, a time-dependent
analysis is performed to search for temporal clustering of neutrino candidates
as a mean of detecting neutrino flares in blazars. None of the investigated
sources alone reaches a significant flare detection level. However, the
presence of 18 sources with a pre-trial significance above indicates
a ( in the two-sided convention) detection of a
time-variable neutrino flux. An \textit{a posteriori} investigation reveals an
intriguing temporal coincidence of neutrino, radio, and -ray flares of
the J0242+1101 blazar at a ( in the two-sided convention)
level. Altogether, the results presented here suggest a possible connection of
neutrino candidates detected by the ANTARES telescope with radio-bright
blazars
Binding of Pramipexole to Extrastriatal Dopamine D2/D3 Receptors in the Human Brain: A Positron Emission Tomography Study Using 11C-FLB 457
The purpose of this study was to determine the binding sites of pramipexole in extrastriatal dopaminergic regions because its antidepressive effects have been speculated to occur by activating the dopamine D2 receptor subfamily in extrastriatal areas. Dynamic positron emission tomography (PET) scanning using 11C-FLB 457 for quantification of D2/D3 receptor subtype was performed on 15 healthy volunteers. Each subject underwent two PET scans before and after receiving a single dose of pramipexole (0, 0.125, or 0.25 mg). The study demonstrated that pramipexole significantly binds to D2/D3 receptors in the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and medial and lateral thalamus at a dose of 0.25 mg. These regions have been indicated to have some relation to depression and may be part of the target sites where pramipexole exerts its antidepressive effects
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